


Jewels

by the_authors_exploits



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Catlad, Gen, Prompt Fill, Tim Drake is Catlad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-23
Updated: 2015-09-23
Packaged: 2018-04-22 23:56:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4855508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_authors_exploits/pseuds/the_authors_exploits
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt from tumblr: How about Catlad AU Tim</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jewels

**Author's Note:**

> I've admittedly never wrote Catlad, I literally don't know anything about this AU. I'm sorry

The emerald was just too pretty to pass up; he had a string of diamonds, a handful of gold rings, a bag of assorted rich rocks, and that four ounce topaz he’d come for. But the emerald; the soft green, the sharp moonlight it was illuminated under, the sparkle the cut gave to it.

It was perfect and he had to have it.

He patted at his belt, checking how secure his treasures were, before flicking the ears on his head down over his eyes; he switched on the thermal vision, scanning the glass case for security. Sure enough, there were some trip lasers around the case, as well as in it, he would have to avoid or deactivate. However, as he was scanning, he spotted a small being in the rafters, near the open sunlight he’d come through; so no deactivating. He’d have to be quick and effective.

A few quick, delicate, twists of his body and he was through the lasers. He approached the case, flipping the ear-goggles back on his head. He smirked, running his hands against the class carefully; it wasn’t the Bat’s gaze on his back, so he had time.

“Did you enjoy the show, little birdy?”

A soft thump, easily ignorable if not paying attention—or if you weren’t Catlad.

“That jewel does not belong to you, Catlad.” He’s standing on the ground now, away from the ledge he had perched on since his arrival.

The boy shrugged; pressure plates, along with the . He’d have to switch the gem for something; he pulled out a small pad device and began tapping away quickly. “It will in a moment.”

Robin stepped forward, into the light. “No, it will still belong to the shop. Unless you exchange currency for it, ownership still stays with this establishment.”

A chuckle. “Come on, kiddo; loosen up!” The lasers within the case were easily deactivated and Catlad slipped the pad into his belt, zipping the pocket shut, and knelt down to feel around the case again. “I’m only taking one jewel.” A lie, ahh well.

“The jingling in your pockets would suggest otherwise.”

Catlad huffed, but ignored the comment; he’d found the latches for the glass cover and released them, carefully lifting the glass cube up and away. He fiddled in his pocket for something that would equal the weight of the gem so the pressure plate wouldn’t set off an alarm.

“Drake, don’t you touch that gem!”                  

Whoops; nimble fingers. There was a set of light binoculars in place of the sizeable gem. “Aaahhh,” Catlad held the gem up to the light, squinting through it. “This is a beauty!” He turned around grinning.

Robin was pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes squinted tight under his mask. “Catlad, if I have to chase you around Gotham tonight I will not be happy!”

Tim frowned; yeah, his little buddy didn’t seem to want to play cat and birdie tonight. Something was definitely wrong. So he plopped down where he stood and cradled his chin in his hand. “Wanna talk, birdie?”

“Replace the gems you stole.”

“You seem tense, buddy; I mean, you’ve always got a stick up your butt, but extra tense tonight! What’s going on?”

“Catlad, I will ask one more time!”

Only the invisible alarm lasers separated them, with Tim on the floor by the jewel case and Robin on the other side. Tim in the moonlight, Robin at the edge of it; he was huffing, his little face pinched and red and angry, and Tim sighed.

“We’ll make a deal, ok?”

“You are in no position to negotiate, Catlad; I am between you and your exit.”

That was true, but Tim didn’t care; he continued as if Robin hadn’t said anything.

“You tell me what’s going on, and I’ll give you the jewels back; deal?”

“No.”

Tim stood, turned around, and flipped through the first set of lasers. “Then I’ll be off; there’s a back exit this way, you know, kiddo.”

Robin huffed. “I will not chase you and you will give me those jewels.”

“No can do…” Another set of lasers.

He swore under his breath in another language—Arabic, perhaps—before responding. “My brother is…having a rough day.”

Tim knew much more about Robin’s family than he let on, though they had traded snippets of life stories before; Tim knew Robin was Damian Wayne. Tim knew he had two brothers, and Tim also knew one of them was near catatonic due to a run in with Joker some years back. He had good days, and he had bad days; on the bad days, Damian was a brat.

So Tim heaved a longsuffering sigh and slipped back through the lasers. He emptied his belt pockets at the foot of the emerald’s case, before returning the emerald to its place and retrieving his binoculars.

“Sure was a pretty jewel…” all mournful and puppy-eyed.

It partially worked; Damian crossed his arms and sniffed. “Yes, well… You should run along before Father gets here.”

So Tim did; quick and quiet, stealthily like a cat, out the back exit. And Damian let him go.

A moment later, Batman emerged from the shadows and watched as Damian retrieved and replaced the gems; one look around the room told him all he needed to know. “You let him go.” It was a half-question.

Robin glared. “Perhaps.”

A jewelry store down the street reported a robbery the next morning, but Damian didn’t really feel guilty for letting the thief boy go.


End file.
